Real Madrid started the La Liga season a bit slowly, but they’ve quickly turned things around over the past few games as their offense has begun pouring in goals like a broken water main flooding a street. Led by the amazing Cristiano Ronaldo and his two straight hat-tricks (including a four-goal game against Elche), Madrid are quickly becoming every bit of the unstoppable force we expected to see.
Villarreal vs. Real Madrid live stream: How to watch La Liga online, TV schedule and more
Can the Yellow Submarine find a way to slow down one of La Liga’s hottest offenses?
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno
Carlo Ancelotti finally giving Asier Illarramendi a chance in the defensive midfield has helped settle down Madrid’s issues there, allowing the attack to worry even less about paying attention to their defensive responsibilities than usual.
Basically, they’re really scary and now it’s Villarreal’s turn to try and slow down Los Blancos. Not an enviably situation to be in, but one that the Yellow Submarine might be able to handle. The Villarreal defense has been reasonably stingy, at least by La Liga standards, but they’ve not faced an offense like Madrid this season. To be fair, since no one has an offense like Ancelotti’s team, there’s really no way to prepare.
Key Player: Sergio Asenjo (Villarreal)
You have to feel bad about any goalkeeper going up against Real Madrid right now. They really are soccer’s version of the sacrificial lamb at the moment, being forced to stand before the giant, growling Spanish Cerberus. An intimidating three-headed monster so vicious, it can change out heads and still be just a dangerous. Standing in between Cerberus and a meaty mammoth leg (or whatever) is Villarreal goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo. He’s a solid keeper, one of the better net minders is Spain, but his task on Saturday could be simply too much.
Key Matchup: Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Villarreal defense, Villarreal fans, Villarreal’s kitchen sink, etc.
Cristiano Ronaldo is on fire. He’s a destroyer of worlds, a goal scoring machine that scoring goals at levels previously unseen even from a goal scoring machine like Ronaldo. Seven goals in two matches is absurd ... just absurd. If you’ve ever seen Radiohead in concert and had the fortune of seeing Thom Yorke play ‘You and Whose Army’, hopefully you were at a venue with big screens. During the song Thom is playing his piano with his face jammed up against a small camera positioned in the corner of his keyboard. As he tells the audience, “come on, come on, you and whose army?”, he’s taunting you using the camera. That’s Ronaldo right now and Villarreal have to find a way to stop him.
Villarreal injuries and suspensions
Out: Giovani dos Santos(calf), Bojan Jokic (knee), Hernan Perez (knee), Jaume Costa (hamstring), Pablo Iniguez (undisclosed).
Real Madrid injuries and suspensions
Out: Sami Khedira (thigh), Jese Rodriguez (knee), Pepe (hamstring).
Real Madrid remain without Sami Khedira and Jese as they both recover from long-term knee injuries. Pepe is also expected to miss his third straight match with a hamstring injury. Villarreal are also dealing with several injuries, including striker Giovani do Santos who tore a calf muscle. If head coach Marcelino holds to form, Ikechukwu Uche will lead the attack alongside either Gerard Moreno or Denis Cheryshev.
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 4 p.m. local, 10 a.m. ET
Venue: El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain
TV: beIN Sports, beIN Sports en Español (U.S.), Sky Sports Red Button (U.K.), beIN Sports (Canada), GOL T, Canal+ Liga/HD, Canal+ Yomvi, C+ Liga Multi (Spain)
Online: beIN Sports CONNECT (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.), beIN Sports CONNECT (Canada), Gol Stadium (Spain)
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